root out
phrasal verb
rooted out; rooting out; roots out
1
: to find and remove (something or someone)
The mayor was determined to root out corruption in city government.
2
: to find (something or someone) after searching for a long time
He finally rooted out the cause of the problem.
Examples of root out in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The big brass tasks the preening, excessively kempt George Woodhouse (Fassbender) with investigating her and some other colleagues in order to root out the traitor.
—
David Sims, The Atlantic, 15 Mar. 2025
The agency has continued to root out waste, fraud and corruption in the federal government ever since President Donald Trump took office in January.
—Ryan Morik, Fox News, 11 Mar. 2025
This is not simply rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse.
—Faisal Kutty, Newsweek, 11 Mar. 2025
George has always known how to set a clear boundary between business and pleasure (clear, but porous), and his plan to root out the rat hinges on the conviction that his colleagues aren’t so capable of drawing that line for themselves.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 11 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for root out
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David Sims, The Atlantic, 15 Mar. 2025
The agency has continued to root out waste, fraud and corruption in the federal government ever since President Donald Trump took office in January.
—Ryan Morik, Fox News, 11 Mar. 2025
This is not simply rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse.
—Faisal Kutty, Newsweek, 11 Mar. 2025
George has always known how to set a clear boundary between business and pleasure (clear, but porous), and his plan to root out the rat hinges on the conviction that his colleagues aren’t so capable of drawing that line for themselves.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 11 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for root out
Cite this Entry
“Root out.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/root%20out. Accessed 22 Mar. 2025.
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